Photos by Anton Dergachev (except the first one), comment by Vladimir Dergachev
A perfect married couple on swans who are about to kiss.
Fountain “Matrimonial or Marriage Carousel” created based on the German medieval poet and composer Hans Sachs on the site of a ventilation shaft of the local metro, which did not decorate the city landscape.
Each side of the fountain represents a scene from the life of the spouses, romantic and not so romantic moments of marriage. Six sculptural compositions are arranged in a circle on stylized trailers in the form of different animals and reflect various episodes of married life.
In the center of the fountain, the poet Hans Sachs himself rises on an ear of corn.
Hans Sachs's poem "Bittersweet Marriage", fragments of which are carved on the fountain:
Glory to the Almighty and Almighty,
I sing glory to our Lord.
Glory to the One who gives to all things,
He sent me my wife.
Married life is the epitome of sweetness,
The “bouquet” will add a sour taste.
How beautiful you are, family joys,
They are just as difficult, there is no doubt.
My angel, exemplary life partner,
So good, and sweet, and kind.
There is a mistress in the house and a faithful wife,
It brings a lot of goodness to my house.
True, a thunderstorm often gathers,
thunder and lightning, tears and screams.
The wife swears very loudly,
He scolds often, but I'm already used to it.
Sometimes I don’t want to rush home,
The angry woman there is driving you crazy.
But if misfortune happens to me,
My wife will become my support.
In life, my reliable shield and help,
There is so much life in her, so much fire,
It will warm you up in winter, but for God's sake! -
Let her nag me less.
Cooks deliciously, washes cleanly,
She sews, embroiders, sings like a nightingale.
He argues, he screams, he doesn’t forgive anything.
My joy, my punishment.
My confessor and tempter,
Where she is is both a palace and a prison.
Blessed be the almighty Savior,
She has been with me for twenty-two years.
Fountain Virtue was built in 1584/89. to provide citizens with drinking water. At the first level of the structure, female figures are presented, personifying six human virtues with symbols:
Faith with cross and cup,
Hope with an anchor
Love with two children
Bravery with a lion
Moderation with a mug,
Patience with the lamb.
The fountain "Carousel of Marriage" (or "Marriage Carousel") on Ludwigpatz Square in front of the White Tower began to be created back in 1977. And the fountain was finished in 1984...
The White Tower itself (Weiber Turm - built in 1250), next to which there is a fountain, was originally part of the fortifications of the Nuremberg fortress, and later became the “entrance” to the metro. And the metro ventilation shaft, located almost in the middle of the square, required “aesthetic camouflage.” It was decided to install a fountain at the mine exit...
The author of this fountain, after a creative competition, was Jurgen Weber. The composition of the fountain was created based on the famous poem by Hans Sachs “Bittersweet Marriage”.
In his poem, the Registrar describes scenes and stages of family life - from first passion to death... After the opening of the fountain, there were long debates about the degree of propriety of the figures of its components... See and judge for yourself...
The dark and bright sides of family life, in the cycle of the “marriage” carousel, are reflected in the form of six sculptural groups:
Love is a young couple on a swan bed;
A mature couple, shackled by one chain of eternal quarrels;
Skeletons of a husband and wife, continuing to strangle each other even after death, sitting on the back of a huge dragon lizard that emerged from the depths of hell... On the lizard’s paw you can see the inscription “07/01/1977” - the date of the adoption of the new divorce law in Germany;
Family idyll on the Pelican bed. A young mother feeds her children apples. Pelican as a symbol of maternal love;
A downtrodden and helplessly wretched husband and a wasteful tyrant - a wife devouring a piece of cake taken from her husband. Please note - the woman’s plate is full, but the man is thin and naked;
In Nuremberg, on Ludwigplatz there is a very unusual and original fountain. It's called "The Marriage Carousel". It is also called the “Marriage Carousel”. If you are lucky enough to visit Nuremberg, be sure to go to this fountain, you will not regret it. The “Married Carousel” fountain was created based on the work of the German poet and composer Hans Sachs. During the construction of the metro in the city, a ventilation shaft had to be built right on the square. However, she did not paint the city and local authorities announced a competition for the best camouflage of this hole. The competition was won by sculptor Jürgen Werber.
The idea for the composition of the fountain came to his mind after reading a poem by the most famous Nuremberg poet of the Middle Ages, G. Sachs, “Bittersweet Married Life.”
The composition of the fountain is designed in such a way that each side of the fountain represents a scene from the life of the spouses, the bright and dark moments of marriage. Six sculptural compositions are arranged in a circle on stylized trailers in the form of different animals and reflect various episodes of married life. Each composition is a hint and a hidden meaning, which not everyone can figure out, but some things are still clear.
The wife is a fairly well-fed woman, but she devours her husband’s portion; her own plate stands untouched. But my husband doesn’t care, he’s happy with life. What does this mean? Most likely about her carelessness in family life. By the way, this entire composition is located on a wolverine devouring a fish. The exact translation of wolverine in German is glutton. Then think for yourself.
It seems like a prosperous family at the dawn of its happiness. A mother feeds her children, a boy and a girl, with her husband nearby. But my husband looks in a completely different direction. There is something he doesn’t like in this life. Maybe a wife? This whole idyll is located on a pelican - a symbol of maternal love.
On the paw of the dragon from the underworld you can see an inscription with the numbers 07/01/1977. This is the date of the adoption of the new divorce law in Germany.
The perfect married couple on swans. Everything is fine with them, they are about to kiss.
Aged couple. Life together is so boring that it’s impossible, but there’s nowhere to go. So they swear like devils, chained forever with one chain.
A woman reaches out to an ear of corn on which G. Sachs himself is sitting. In the background you can see a column in the form of a funeral wreath, symbolizing that in the end everyone, both friendly and unfriendly families, will end up there at the top. Sooner or later.
The “Matrimonial Carousel” fountain in Nuremberg initially caused heated debate about whether the city needed such a philosophical composition and they even wanted to ban it, but common sense in art won. Nowadays it is the most visited attraction in Nuremberg.
These are the verses of Sax that prompted the sculptor to create such an unusual fountain:
“Married life is the epitome of joy,
The “bouquet” will add a sour taste.
How beautiful you are, family joys,
They are just as difficult, there is no doubt.”
Quatrains from the poem are carved on some fragments of the fountain.
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The original fountain called the Marriage Carousel is located in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, Germany. An unusual fountain, also called the Marriage Carousel, is located in the central part of the city, on Ludwigsplatz Square.
The marriage carousel has been spinning in the center of Nuremberg since 1984. The author of the monumental fountain based on the poem “Bittersweet Family Life” by the German poet and composer Hans Sachs (1494-1576) was the sculptor Jurgen Werber. The history of the creation of this strange masterpiece of modern art is as unique as the fountain itself.
When the metro line was laid in Nürnberg, a ventilation shaft was built right in the center of Ludwigsplatz. Since it openly disfigured the historical appearance of the city, they decided to cover up the resulting hole with something, so the city authorities announced a competition for the best camouflage project. As a result, the winner was the design of the Marriage Carousel fountain by Jürgen Werber.
The fountain consists of six scenes, the participants of which are a married couple going through all the vicissitudes of marriage. First meeting, passion and declarations of love, long family life, old age together and death. , that on the bas-relief of the Marriage Carousel fountain is embossed not only the verse that did not inspire its creation, but also the date 07/01/1977 - the day of the adoption of a new divorce law in Germany, which made the already unpleasant procedure even more complicated.
The Marriage Carousel Fountain is an interesting and rather controversial example of modern art. It should be noted that his appearance in the central square of Nrnberg shocked the townspeople and caused outrage among many. The excessive frankness and indiscretion of the unusual sculptural composition really evokes very mixed emotions.
The artistic value of the original Nuremberg fountain, the Marriage Carousel, has been questioned more than once. But over time, the townspeople got used to the unusual monument and the passions around it slowly subsided. Now the Marriage Carousel is the largest sculptural fountain of the 20th century and one of the popular attractions of the city of Nuremberg.
It seems to me that I have never seen such original fountains as in Nuremberg anywhere else. The names alone are worth it - a magnificent fountain, “Ship of Fools”, “A Little Man with Geese”, The Piper. But I will tell you about the most original and most “vital” fountain - the Marriage Carousel or the Fountain of Family Life.
The fountain is located a little away from the main tourist trails. On Ludwigsplatz, next to the white tower. Although the tower is not white at all, but even red) It’s just that after restoration the layer of white plaster was removed, but the name is still preserved. The White Tower was once part of the fortifications of Nuremberg. And today the main pedestrian street with many shops and restaurants begins from it.
Landmarks for finding the fountain are two nearby churches - Elisabethkirche and Jacobskirche. Do you see two spiers behind the white tower? More precisely, one dome and one spire)
In front of the white tower is the most beautiful, most original and most controversial fountain - the Marriage Carousel. The fountain (more precisely, the idea) is treated differently. Some people like the description of family life in bronze. Others believe that this is disrespect for a woman and it is with this attitude towards marriage in Europe that all sorts of Conchita Voors are born.
To take someone's side, you need to see everything with your own eyes. But first, let's remember the history of the creation of this object. It was fantastically prosaic - it was necessary to somehow disguise the subway ventilation shaft. The announced competition was won by sculptor Jürgen Weber. He decided to “film” the famous poem by Hans Sachs “Bittersweet Family Life”.
The poem is a poem, but some believe that the sculptor reflected his 22-year-old family life in the compositions.
The name of the fountain reflects the meaning of family life - how a carousel spins in its cycle, in each period of life there is its own carousel trailer. A total of six period trailers are shown, from romantic acquaintance to death. But the stages of development of relations are not shown in chronological order... I propose to examine in detail each sculptural composition.
STAGE ONE.
A man dedicates a new melody to his beautiful lady, singing sweet promises. A woman, like Venus, is born from an opening shell. The very beginning of any couple’s relationship, the candy-bouquet period.
STAGE TWO
After the sweetness of the beginning of family life comes the bitterness of everyday relationships. The couple is shown with a wife succumbing to excess and a husband suffering from his wife's tyranny. A fat glutton wife and a skinny henpecked husband. Notice that the woman is eating a piece of her husband's pie! His piece lies on his wife’s plate, waiting in line.
The couple is depicted on a bronze pedestal, from which a wolverine catches a fish. The Germans associate Wolverine with gluttony.
STAGE THREE
The next scene is again the sweetness of the couple. They had children and all the strength of the young parents is turned to their offspring. The mother hands the children an apple to feed them. Or he gives you a bite from the tree of knowledge... depending on who has enough imagination)
The pedestal also plays on this stage of life. The pelican tears out its heart - an allusion to the legend of how a mother tore out her heart for the sake of her children. In addition, the pelican is a symbol of maternal love.
STAGE FOUR.
The carousel is spinning again, sweet moments give way to bitter ones. Even cruel! Quarrels, scandals, swearing, fights... and fights and scandals do not stop even in the next world. Each spouse wants to prove to the other that they are right. Even by strangulation...
The pedestal of this couple is also very telling - a fire-breathing dragon, as if emerging from the depths of the underworld! Take a closer look at the dragon - the date July 1, 1977 is engraved on one of its clawed paws. This is the date the local divorce law was passed.
STAGE FIFTH
And again tenderness, happy moments of marriage. A loving couple lies on a swan bed, their lips reach out to each other. The swans depicted at the base of the pedestal also reach out to each other with their beaks.
STAGE SIX
After the idyll, bitterness and disappointment in marriage sets in again. Well, how could it be otherwise?! Our whole life is one continuous carousel, a roller coaster - now up, now down, now lifting to heaven, now casting into the abyss!
At the sixth stage of family life, we see spouses shackled by one chain. They are chained with each other by eternal quarrels, and there is no escape from it! The pedestal is a gondola engulfed in flames, as a symbol of evil and unrestrained tongues.
The circle of the carousel is crowned with a corncob, on top of which stands the author of the poem about bittersweet family life, Hans Sachs. On the paving stones (to the left of the cob) lies a marble heart with the lines of a poem:
Married Life - The Embodiment of Sweetness
The sour taste will add to the bouquet
How beautiful you are, family joys
Just as difficult, there is no doubt
The poem is long and interesting. But I can’t copy everything here) I personally really liked the bright illustration of this work in marble and bronze. It became such a highlight in the independent exploration of Nuremberg.
Construction of the fountain began in 1977, the year the new divorce law was adopted. It took a long time to build the fountain - seven whole years! All because the residents of Nuremberg did not like the idea, they did not like the attitude towards women shown in some compositions. Residents protested and city authorities rushed to announce a freeze on construction due to “lack of funds.” But in the end, funds were found, the fountain was completed and now it is a decoration of the Bavarian city! By the way, Bavaria is famous for its “highlights” - the larger one is located in the Neuschwanstein Swan Castle, a royal castle on the top of the mountains.
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